Unbound
by der kapitan
Summary: Collaboration with Ari Moriarty. They became friends, helped each other through it all, saved the world — and in the end, he watched her die. The future she secured would go on without her. Now that bond that brought them so close together, the one that's made him who he is today, can bring her back. But a sacrifice is necessary. — Junpei/Minako, friendship
1. sacrifice

Author's Note:

Hello all! I'm here with a collaboration with the lovely Miss **Ari Moriarty**. After a considerable amount of mutual angsting over Minako/Persona 3 in general, we came up with this little idea that hopefully will turn out well.

Please enjoy, and it's always nice to hear a comment or two! :)

* * *

**Unbound**

_"Your laughter in my head – I'm gonna have to block it out somehow to survive, 'cause those dreams are dead, but I'm alive."  
_- Jackson Browne, "I'm Alive"

One: Sacrifice

* * *

That morning, Junpei Iori crawled out of bed, pulled on his pants, and shivered. It was freezing inside, and he could see through the little window that there were snowflakes pouring down in the world outside, blanketing everything in a sheet of fuzzy white.

There was a red circle around the date on Junpei's wall calendar, and he winced as he read it off to himself.

"January sixteenth," he mumbled, frowning. "Happy fucking birthday to me. Damn, it's cold in here…"

He thought, momentarily, about calling up Yukari, Akihiko, or any of the guys just to see if they had plans for the day. He considered getting in touch with his cousins in Tokyo, or maybe even going for a job and checking into a few of the local restaurants and coffee shops, flaunting the fact that it was his birthday just to see if any of them would give him free stuff. In the end, nothing felt right. He couldn't convince himself to get really excited about or look forward to any of it.

_Forget it, _he thought, pulling his pants back off and shuffling back into bed. He threw the covers over his head, snuggled down as far as he could, trying to shut out the sound of the pretty little droplets of snow turning into water as they spattered against the windowpanes.

"Fuck off," he told them, before shutting his eyes and wiling himself back to sleep. _After all, _he asked himself, _if a guy can't sleep in and blow off the world on his own birthday, then what's the day even for?_

It didn't take long for him to pass out again. The next time he opened his eyes, he could tell that he was dreaming. The whole world had changed color, and was now indescribably tinged with blue.

"Oh," he muttered. "Uh. Wait, really?"

Junpei blinked a few times, shook his head in an effort to clear it, and gazed around the Velvet Room. Igor, the Velvet Room's resident creepy goon, gazed back with calculated interest, as did Theodore, one of the Velvet Room assistants or attendants, or whatever.

For a second, Junpei was pretty sure that he was having a nightmare. He'd never been to the Velvet Room in his dreams before, but he'd certainly thought about the place enough, ever since he and the rest of what had once been SEES had encountered it at the miserable end of what had once been an exciting and heroic mission to save the world. He didn't like to think about any of that now.

_Maybe I shouldn't try not to think about it, _he told himself. _That's, uh…what's that called? Oh, yeah, suppressing. I'm suppressing memories, maybe. When you do that, you end up having crazy bad dreams. Who was it who told me, that, Mitsuru-senpai? Yeah, probably. That's the kind of thing she'd maybe care about, I guess._

"Welcome," murmured Igor, "to the Velvet Room. It has been quite some time."

"No kidding," muttered Junpei. "So…hi, I guess. Uh, what's up?"

Theodore glanced upwards at the ceiling for a moment. Junpei raised an eyebrow at him, and suddenly Theodore looked slightly sheepish.

"Ah," he said, nodding quickly. "Forgive me, I misunderstood you. The colloquial phrase 'What's up,' is as if to say 'what is happening,' or 'what seems to be the trouble?' Your human phrases and grammatical structure are truly fascinating at times…nonsensical, and yet quaint. Yes, fascinating!"

"Right." Junpei wasn't sure what to make of that.

"You seem uncertain," remarked Igor. "Please, don't be concerned. In the real world, you are still asleep. I have brought you here within your dreams."

"We have some very important information to relate to you," agreed Theodore. "Information concerning one of our most valued guests…"

For a moment, Theodore's eyes glazed over slightly, and a nostalgic, almost saddened expression came over his face. There was something unsettling and out of place about that look, especially on the face of the weirdly robotic Theodore, who Junpei had never particularly l liked. Junpei had never been able to take Theodore really seriously, or even to connect him too much with the real world, probably because of the alien, kind of creepy way he got entranced by everything human and mundane. It felt wrong for Theodore to be sad. Hairs started standing up on the back of Junpei's neck.

"Yeah?" he asked. "What information? What guest? What are you-?"

"The information," murmured Igor, "concerns a certain Minako Arisato…a friend of yours, if I am not very much mistaken."

Junpei froze. Igor and Theodore were still watching him, and he was sure that Igor was still talking, but the name of Minako Arisato had sent something like an electric current ripping through his soul, and it was suddenly hot, uncomfortable, and hard to breathe in the usually pleasant and relaxing Velvet Room. He bit his lip and tried to regain some control of himself, but there was a laughing, brown-haired girl dancing through his head now, her red eyes glinting as she grinned teasingly at him. He closed his eyes and tried to shut her out, but she was still there, smiling behind his eyes and holding out her arms to him, offering hugs, comfort, courage, strength, and all of the things that he'd wished he could grow up to be after he'd saved the world and become the hero that he'd dreamt of since he was small.

Now the word "hero' made him feel sick inside. He'd learned the hard way that there was nothing magical about heroes. _Heroes are just sacrifices_, he muttered inside his head. _They're just fucking casualties of war. We call them heroes 'cause it makes us feel better when we think about the fact that we pushed 'em over the edge, that's all it is. Heroes give up everything 'cause they wanna save the world. It's got nothing to do with us, right? It was their duty, or their mission, or whatever, or…there was nothing we coulda done, right? That's what we want to believe about heroes._

"What about Minako?" he asked, choking down the anger that was suddenly taking her place in the back of his memory.

Igor and Theodore exchanged a look. Theodore nodded once.

"It appears," he told Junpei, "that circumstances have changed, unexpectedly. If my calculations are correct, then there is…an opportunity, if you will."

Junpei didn't say anything. After waiting expectantly for a moment, Theodore shrugged, and continued.

"We have determined a way," he said, "of creating what is perhaps an even better and more powerful seal against the power of Nyx."

Junpei's mouth fell open. "Wha…wait, you what?" he asked. "A better seal? What's that supposed to mean? Like, a new seal? Does that mean that-?"

Igor nodded "The current seal, formed of the soul of our former guest," he intoned, "might be released from its servitude and set free again in the human world. Under the proper conditions, your friend could be returned to you."

Junpei swallowed hard. "I don't get it," he mumbled. "You're telling me that she's still alive? That we can...that we can get her out of that thing? Where the hell was this a year ago? Forget that, what do we do? How do we make the new seal? What are you waiting for? Spill it, already!"

For some reason, Igor looked amused. He chuckled, his eyes glinting, and Junpei wanted to strangle him.

"It's not that simple, I'm afraid," said Theodore, shaking his head. "The creation of a new seal requires a sacrifice. There isn't any other way."

He looked genuinely apologetic, and Junpei took a moment to reign in some of the strange combination of panic and enthusiasm that had been filling him up every since Igor's words had really hit home.

_A sacrifice, huh? _he thought. _So, another hero. Somebody's gotta take her place, is that how this is gonna work? That's not any better, really. Who'd go and do something like that? Sure, we may be saviors of the universe, but…that's asking a little much._

"Ah, by the way," remarked Igor casually, as Junpei stewed. "I understand that today is the day on which you were born. January sixteenth, isn't it?"

Junpei was surprised. "Hey," he asked, "how'd you know?"

Theodore smiled. "It is my duty, of course, to keep careful and accurate records of the lives and inner psychological workings of every guest," he said, looking proud. "I should have mentioned it before. Forgive my failure, please. Oh…what is it that one says on the celebration of a day of birth? Oh, I remember! It is 'Happy Birth-day,' correct?"

Theodore was beaming at him. Junpei shrugged. "Yeah, thanks," he muttered. He remembered waking up that morning and looking at the calendar, realizing what day it was and feeling himself deflate like a broken balloon when he thought about how happy people's birthdays were supposed to be. He was supposed to wake up on his birthday and dance around like a kid on Christmas, rush out into the street and buy himself something fatty and expensive to eat just to celebrate the fact that he was alive. Just a couple of years ago, his birthday had been a crazy binge of overeating and staying up too late, hanging out and lounging around, loving and experiencing youth by playing out in the cold without a jacket on like the invincible superman he'd been sure he was. His friends had all been there, then, and it had meant something special to him, something unnamed and irreplaceable just to have all those crazy kids to celebrate his birthday with. It had felt, then, like there was going to be a future.

Now, though, it didn't matter anymore. The future was a let-down, because after the battle with Nyx, and then the battle with Erebus, and then the battle he'd been fighting ever since just with himself, he'd realized something hard, ugly, and sickeningly real. Tomorrow was a bust, and always would be, because he'd saved the world from certain destruction and it didn't feel good. There had been someone he'd wanted to spend some future with, and he'd had to give her away. Going on from there was just going through the motions. No matter how many lives he'd saved, and no matter how many people suddenly had birthdays who wouldn't have had them if he'd never stepped in, he didn't care too much about the future anymore. Where was there left to go?

Again, the image of Minako, cheerful and effervescent, went swirling through his head. She'd been there, and then she'd been gone, just like the snow that melted against the window as soon as it had made its pretty presence known.

"A sacrifice, huh?" he asked, biting his lip. "Okay, sure. Tell me more."


	2. eternity

Author's Note: Here's chapter two! Thank you to those who reviewed/favorited/etc. It'd be great to hear a word or two from you. :)

Ah, I forgot to give credit where credit is due! The first chapter was written by the lovely Ari Moriarty, whereas I wrote this one. Please enjoy!

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_"Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything for it."  
_- J. M. Barrie

**Chapter Two: Eternity**

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The weight of the world was a heavy one, laden with anger, regret, fear, and death. It seemed like for every one beautiful thing, there existed five ugly things — and this made it difficult to see through all the fog and darkness. People were so quick to doubt, to be cynical, to expect the worst. For some, everything was so terrible that death, a simple end, was better. Humans were weak and fickle, so eager to give up and withdraw, could sometimes be so ugly and cruel.

But there must have been something beautiful about it all. There must have been _something_ worth loving. Minako Arisato hadn't forfeited her soul for a meaningless existence.

She had defeated Nyx and saved mankind in the process. Her friends had destroyed Erebus — for now. All was right. All was okay. All was the way it should have been.

"Minako-chan." There was Ryoji, always there to keep her company. The only one to keep her company. "How are you doing?"

The question was almost a rhetorical one; Minako had to constantly worry about how quickly Erebus is growing back, about how humans were so ungrateful for their lives, about how she'd be stuck here forever. Ryoji knew all these things, yet he still asked, perhaps just to be polite. He was always thoughtful, even if it was in the wrong way.

"I'm alright," she answered, as usual. Day by day, week by week, it was all the same. Was eternity supposed to be this static? "My shoulders hurt a bit," she said, mostly as a joke. Minako had agreed, in her contract with Igor, that she would follow through with and accept the consequences of her actions. She'd agreed to carry the world, and became the Universe in the process. It was all pretty heavy, both literally and figuratively. On top of that, she didn't have a physical existence anymore. Her being was confined to this space, to this Seal on a plane far beyond her friends and home.

Ryoji chuckled. "That's very unfortunate. I could always give you a massage, you know. I'm told I'm great with my hands."

Even now he was a flirt. "Maybe next time," she laughed.

Silence settled between them. Silence was something she experienced a lot of, something she still wasn't quite used to. Most of the time it was rough to get through; in ths silence, her mind and memories would reel, unrelenting, constantly on replay. She'd think about the dorm, how lively it was in its final months, about school and people were always running around, about her friends who kept her busy. Minako wasn't used to being alone, even now.

"Hey," she said, eager to break the quiet, "say something."

Ryoji wordlessly touched the tall golden gate, admiring all the detail and intricate designs. Minako flinched, disliking the mixed expression of awe and disgust in his eyes. "You've been here for a long time," he said after a while. "It's almost been a year, you know. Maybe a whole year. That's a very long time."

It was unlike him to bring up something so serious; Ryoji was off today. It made Minako feel a little off center, perhaps even worried. "It is," she agreed carefully. "But you've been here for longer."

He chuckled. "That's true. However... I belong here. This is where I was conceived, where I was born, where I came into being." Though she didn't fully understand the meaning behind his words, they resonated deep within her. "But you, Minako-chan... This is not where you're supposed to be. You were born for happiness and life — not this. Not this endless space." He turned to her, delicately taking her hands and holding them in his own. (If she looked close enough, she could see her own fingers through his translucent skin.) "You don't belong here."

Minako tried to laugh it off, but his face was completely stoic and the way he was gripping her hands worried her. "Ryoji... What are you talking about?"

"I know you miss them," he continued. "Your friends, all of them. I know you think of them a lot."

She opens her mouth to rebuke him, but Ryoji knows her too well. They've spent all this time together, after all; if anyone knows her thoughts and feelings better than herself, it's him. "Yeah," she affirmed after a short silence. "Yeah, of course I do."

She thought of Rio and wondered if anything every happened between her and Kenji. Of Hidetoshi and how great of a teacher he was going to be (and sometimes about his bold confession). Of Maiko and how her parents were doing. Of Bebe and whether or not he ever got to return to Japan. Of Saori and her forbidden love. Of the sweet old couple with their book shop. Of Akinari and the notebook he left behind. Of Tanaka and his adoption of poor orphans. Of Mutatsu and his lost wife and son.

Most of all, she thought of SEES. She thought of their victories, their pitfalls, their shared laughter and tears. She thought of all the failed cakes baked with Fuuka, the dorm dinners with Shinjiro, the shopping with Yukari. She thought of Mitsuru and her motorcycle, Akihiko and his lame pick up lines in the mirror, watching Featherman R with Ken, going on walks with Koromaru, explaining basic aspects of human life to Aigis. She thought of her best friend, the one who probably hated her the most now. Junpei must have hated her for leaving without any explanation, after everything they'd been through and done together.

"Of course I do," she repeated, more to herself than to him. Subconsciously, her fingers began to hold onto his with a stronger grip, trembling. "I think about them all the time. I love them. They're... They were like my family."

Ryoji smiled. It was meant to be a comforting gesture, from the only link to her past life, but all it did was stir a whirl of emotions inside her. "Minako-chan," he murmured affectionately, pulling her close to hide the tears in her eyes and the sob in her throat. Of course Ryoji knew. "You belong with them."

Her fingers dug into his shirt, clinging to him and hoping that even this was real and not just some figment of her imagination. "I _want_ to be with them," she said, voice muffled by his collar bone. "I _want_ to be there for them, instead of just thinking about them. But those memories are all I have! They're all I'm ever gonna have!" And while they were beautiful memories, ones she would never replace or forget, they would always remind her of what she once had. Sometimes, she thought, it would be better if she didn't have them at all.

Ryoji pressed a kiss against her forehead as he soothingly rubbed her back. He didn't say anything for a while, allowing her to cry against him, and merely stood there and comforted her. They were lack that for a long time, with Minako holding tightly on to him and Ryoji caressing her gently.

He propped his chin on top of her head, his eyes looking out into the distance, searching for some horizon. "Do you regret it?" he asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Do you regret becoming the Seal?"

It was a simple question with difficult answers, one that she thought of often. "No," she said, "and yes." Yes because she missed her friends, because she longed for life, because she was so young and had so much more to learn and do. Yes because, despite it all, she had died a sixteen-year-old girl, and even with her sacrifice she was prone to selfish desires.

No because her friends, and the entire world, was still there because of her. No because, ultimately, everyone got to live their lives. Even if she wasn't there with them, they were still alive — and that was what mattered the most. Humanity had so many faults, so many ugly flaws, but Minako loved the world. She loved people. She loved her acquaintances and friends and SEES and her family back when they were still with her.

She regretted her lost time, but she didn't regret that it had to be lost for others. She wanted her own life, but she wanted the others to live more.

Ryoji read the answer in her eyes and on her face, though he knew the answer all along. He smiled warmly (still so sad and lost, though, she thought) and stroked back her hair, moving it away from her face. "You don't have to do it anymore, you know. Not on your own."

Minako figured she was referring to himself. Having him with her made this entire experience (that was the best way she could describe whatever _this_ was) had made it easier. "I know," she said. "You're with me. Thanks, Ryoji."

He shook his head, though he chuckled appreciatively. "No, Minako-chan. I mean you don't have to do _this_ anymore. You can live your life. You can go back."

Minako pulled away from him completely, confused. "What?"

"He's found a way," he replied enigmatically. "A way to restore you to your friends, to your life on earth. You don't have to toil up here by yourself anymore, carrying all of humanity on your back. You don't have to be alone."

Her heart began to race, but she tried to desperately to get it to settle down. Minako didn't want to get her hopes up, only to have them come crashing down. But Ryoji certainly _looked_ sincere enough... Still, there was no way. Igor had been adamant about her following the guidelines of the contract. There couldn't be any loopholes, could there?

"But," Ryoji continued, and she noticed the torn look with an aching heart, "there's a drawback. Well, maybe not a drawback... There's a... sacrifice that's involved. I don't know how willing you are to go through with it, but..."

"What?" she asks, curious and scared all at once. It's still too unreal, too good to be real. She shouldn't get her hopes up, she reminded herself.

"You, and your friends..." Ryoji hesitated, recalling the nostalgic gaze in her eyes just moments before. She tugged on his sleeves, urging him to continue on. For the first time in a while, he saw something akin to faith and desperation in her eyes. After sitting on it a little while longer, he said, "You must offer up your bonds to replace the Seal. To live, you must forfeit your friendships. To live, you must forget them."


	3. changes

**Author's Note: **Hey, Ari here! I'm really sorry. Actually, I owe both our lovely readers and the magnificently patient **der kapitan** an apology for how long it took me to get this chapter out.

You know what did update recently, though? **der kapitan's** original persona story, **Ragnarok. **I've been really enjoying it, so while you're waiting for me to get my act together and update, you might want to go read that!

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**Chapter Three – Changes**

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It took Junpei almost a week to locate the others. After all, the rest of the members of what had once been SEES were now scattered all over Japan, either living their dreams or working towards them, trying, like Junpei, to move the heck on from what had happened in high school. Junpei hadn't been in touch with some of them for months, and so he had to do some real digging.

Mitsuru, Akihiko and Aigis, he found, were now business partners in some weird Kirijo Company venture that no one seemed to be able to name for him when he called. When he explained the situation, all three of them readily agreed to come back to Tatsumi Port Island to meet up, although he still didn't get any details as to what they were really up to.

Fuuka, it turned out, was now teaching after-school cooking classes at Gekkoukan, and taking community college courses in the evenings. That made Junpei smile and cringe at the same time. He wasn't sure if he should freak out about the fact that Fuuka, infamously talentless in the kitchen, was now trying to pass her skills or lack thereof on to the next generation.

Yukari had gone off to university in Tokyo, apparently on some kind of sports scholarship. It took Junpei three tries to even get a hold of her on the phone, and when he did, she started off immediately complaining about how it wasn't a great time for him to call, because she was in the middle of studying for midterms. In the end, though, both Fuuka and Yukari agreed to come and visit, which left only two more people and one more canine for Junpei to round up.

Those three also turned out to be the easiest to track down. Not surprisingly, Akihiko already had Shinjiro's address. Junpei's sense of direction wasn't the best in the world, but when he did manage to find the place, it wasn't too far from Tatsumi Port Island's one reliable hospital, which gave him the creeps. He would always hate hospitals, he knew. The combination of good and bad memories that washed over him every time he set foot near one would probably haunt him for the rest of his life. Still, he could sort of understand why Shinjiro might want to have one close by. After all, the guy had wounds. External wounds, internal wounds, and psychological wounds that probably kept him in and out of the emergency room on a regular basis.

What Junpei wasn't expecting was to find both Ken Amada and Koromaru camped out at Shinjiro's place as well. Ken opened the door to Junpei's knock.

"Oh…hello," mumbled Ken, giving Junpei a wary kind of look. That wasn't exactly the warm reaction that Junpei had been hoping for. "Um…I haven't seen you in a while. Are you here to see Shinjiro-senpai?"

"Well, uh, yeah," said Junpei." But hey, it's cool to see you, too. It has been a while, right? How've you been How's school treating you?"

"Fine, thank you. Uh…please, come in." Ken ushered Junpei inside the house. There were both delicious smells and the sounds of four-letter exclamations coming from the kitchen, and Koromaru was splayed out on the sofa, apparently watching some kind of news program on the TV.

"Arf!" announced Koromaru, jumping up enthusiastically as soon as he caught sight of Junpei. He ran over and butted his head into Junpei's legs. Junpei reached down to scratch him behind the ear.

"Hey, at least someone here's happy to see me," he muttered. "That's something, I guess. Good to see you too, buddy."

All of the cursing in the kitchen stopped as soon as Junpei finished speaking. After a moment, Shinjiro emerged, wiping his hands against his jeans.

"You're here," remarked Shinjiro.

Junpei raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah," he said. "Sorry to barge in like this, man. Um, there's something I gotta-!"

Shinjiro shook his head. "Aki called me," he interrupted. "I already know. Come on. Let's go. Ken, you too."

"Huh?" asked Ken, his eyes widening. "Wait, what's going on? Where are we going?"

"Tell you when we get there," muttered Shinjiro. "Iori…get Koromaru, will you?"

Junpei, slightly at a loss for words, dutifully beckoned to Koromaru, who came trotting along complacently behind as they all made their way out towards Shinjiro's car.

They drove for some time in deeply uncomfortable silence, Kormaru resting his head on Junpei's lap and whining. _Even you can sense how awkward this is, huh? _Wondered Junpei. _Yeah…this is pretty weird. Then again, if I'm not remembering wrong, Shinjiro-senpai was…pretty much always like this._

"Um," mumbled Ken. "Would…somebody please explain what's going on? Everyone's so quiet…I don't like this. Did something happen?"

From the front seat, Shinjiro let out a short little sigh. "You remember the Velvet Room?" he asked.

Ken nodded. "Um…yes. Of course. That man named Igor lives there."

"Right," grunted Shinjiro. "Iori says Igor visited him in a dream. Says he went to the Velvet Room, and this Igor guy told him that there's a way to…to bring her back."

He faltered slightly on the last syllable, and Junpei could almost hear the wince in his voice. Ken probably heard it too, but apparently felt the need to ask the question anyway.

"Bring who back?" Ken glanced back and forth between Junpei, and the back of Shinjiro's head for a moment. "Wait…you don't mean-?"

"Yeah." Shinjiro took a corner a little bit too sharply, the brakes squealing as he threw some of whatever emotion he was trying not to feel into the turn of the wheel. "That's right."

No one said anything else for a long moment. Junpei knew he shouldn't be pissed off. _She's got a name, damnit, _he thought darkly to himself. _Looks like I missed the memo about not being able to say her name out loud, or something. Man, this whole car feels like a fucking funeral. Just bringing her up brings everybody down. She'd hate that. She'd really hate it, I mean, Minako's whole thing was trying to cheer everybody up all the time. She wanted everybody to be happy and all that. Wonder what she'd say if she could see us now? It'd probably piss her off, too…or maybe just make her sad._

"I don't understand," whispered Ken, shaking his head. "Is it…is it really possible?"

Shinjiro shrugged. "Who knows? Anyway, we're gonna find out in a second. We're here." He pulled the car into a parking spot right outside of Paulownia Mall, slamming on the breaks and sending Junpei thudding back against the seat, while Koromaru buried his face in Junpei's shirt, apparently trying to brace for impact.

_You're not fooling anybody, senpai, _thought Junpei ruefully. _Why you gotta act so tough and cold all the time? Feels like you're even more worked up about this than I am._

"Everybody's waiting," said Shinjiro. "Come on." He climbed out of the car, and waited for Ken, Junpei, and Kormaru to do the same. Just as they were heading around the corner towards the mall's double doors, however, Shinjiro glanced back over his shoulder at Ken.

"You didn't finish your breakfast," Shinjiro accused him.

"Uh…no," admitted Ken. "I left the rest of my waffle on the seat. Um, there's a plate, and everything, so it shouldn't mess up the car."

Shinjiro turned around again. "Go get it," he said. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You shouldn't skip."

Ken didn't move for a moment.

"Go," insisted Shinjiro. "We'll wait here."

While Ken sheepishly returned to the car to retrieve the remains of his meal, Junpei felt himself laughing, just a little bit, on the inside. _I guess some things never change, at least, _he thought. _That's…that's kinda nice, actually. Now that, that Minako would probably like._


End file.
